Weather and topography in the state make possible the observation of almost eighty percent of all American bird species. Viewing can be enhanced through use of items, including binoculars and guidebooks, and by joining a bird watchers club.

Starting in the coastal plain, the North Carolina Birding Trail will take birdwatchers to natural areas of rural regions throughout the state. Over thirty states have similar trails that generate millions of ecotourism dollars and provide funds to protect vanishing bird habitats. The nation's oldest birding trail was started in Texas in the early 1980s and is almost 2,110 miles long. When completed, North Carolina's trail will have three regional components. The coastal plains loop, the first section, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2006. This trail will be a driving route that connects birdwatching sites. The goal is to have at least one site in each of the state's 100 counties. A trail book will describe each birding area, including species at the site and nearby points of interest.

Slightly larger than a blue jay and containing a bigger wingspan, the paroquet of North Carolina vanished in 1909. First reported along the coast in 1586, by Thomas Hariott, the paroquet is a member of the parrot family. Living in large groups partial to orchards, paroquets fell to extinction as a result of destructive habits associated with human beings.

More than 70 bird species have been seen on the Hoke County farm of Raft Swamp, and they are not there by coincidence. Jackie and Louie Hough have made efforts to attract the birds in order to create a thriving small-scale sustainable farm in the Sandhills of North Carolina.

Contrary to ideas that no serious zoological studies were conducted in North Carolina until after the Civil War, there is considerable evidence that Reverend Moses Ashley Curtis was the first modern scholar of animal life in the State. Although known mostly for his studies in botany, Curtis' earliest ornithological investigations began almost 30 years before the Civil War and almost 50 years before the well-known studies by John S. Carins and the Brimleys. Appendices include lists of North Carolina Birds.

There are five birds that frequent North Carolina that show varying shades of blue plumage. They are the Eastern bluebird; the blue grosbeak, sometimes called the Big Indigo; the indigo bunting or indigo finch; the blue jay; and barn swallow. Draper provides a description of each bird.

Several well-known animals have the word â€œCarolinaâ€ attached to their common or scientific names. They are the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis, the red-bellied woodpecker (Centurus carolinus), and the Carolina wren. Godfrey describes them.

In Part 2 of endangered wildlife, birds are categorized. The status of these species is based on federal definitions for endangered, rare, undetermined, and peripheral species. Information includes the species; its range in North Carolina; preferred habitat; general comments about it; and status.

Rohling describes some birds, common in some parts of the state and not in others, and where to look for them. They are the summer tanager, northern (Baltimore) oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak, scarlet tanager, indigo bunting, prothonotary warbler, common yellowthroat, and cedar waxwing.

In this ongoing series, Pusser has highlighted the unique diversity of life found within the state's borders. In this segment he focuses on birds. Scientists currently recognize over 10,150 species worldwide. Of that number North Carolina claims 460 species which are either permanent or seasonal residents.

Sylvan Heights Bird Park is about an hour north of Greenville near the small town of Scotland Neck, North Carolina. The park features more than two-thousand waterfowl and exotic birds that live in a natural habitat. The park is also known for its breeding facility to save endangered waterfowl.